Officials released new photos and a video on Monday of a Philadelphia prisoner who escaped custody while on work detail last week.
Gino Hagenkotter, a 34-year-old inmate at Riverside Correctional Facility, was working a detail assignment in the orchard behind the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Facility (PICC) at 8201 State Road shortly before noon on Thursday, Nov. 30, according to officials.
Hagenkotter asked a guard if he could use the bathroom and was allowed to do so, Philadelphia Prisons Commissioner Blanche Carney said during a press conference.
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Hagenkotter never returned after leaving to use the bathroom however, according to Carney.
"This person was allowed to use the bathroom. The officer, when he determined that he did not return in sufficient time, it was then he went to that bathroom area and discovered that [Hagenkotter] had left the compound," Carney said.
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Carney said the officer alerted officials at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday that Hagenkotter escaped. Officials searched through surveillance video and determined Hagenkotter had climbed a fence and escaped through the facility's sanitation yard around 11:45 a.m. that morning.
On Monday, the U.S. Marshals released video showing Hagenkotter walking north on the 8400 block of Hegerman Street toward Blakiston Street around 12:05 p.m. on Thursday.
All Philadelphia prison facilities were secured and placed on lockdown by 12:20 p.m. on Thursday and Philadelphia police were notified, according to Carney.
"We activated our emergency alert system to notify the surrounding county. We stood up our immediate perimeter patrol within a quarter mile radius of our campus from Rhawn to Ashburner," Carney said. "In partnership, we started locking the jails down across State Road. All the activities were suspended. Any activities that were in progress were suspended, individuals were escorted outside the facilities. Counts commenced. Counts cleared. Absent the completed count for Riverside Correctional Facility for which this inmate was assigned and housed."
Philadelphia police responded to the facility around 12:30 p.m. Thursday. Officers as well as K-9 units set up a perimeter in the area and closed surrounding roads though investigators believe Hagenkotter had already moved beyond the perimeter since he escaped the facility more than a half hour before they arrived.
"We have video of him walking down the street further down the block towards Torresdale Avenue," Philadelphia Police Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said. "All that was before 12 noon. Our perimeter was set up after that."
Vanore said the U.S. Marshals are helping with the search and they're checking all of Hagenkotter's known addresses.
Hagenkotter is described as a 34-year-old white man standing 5-foot-6 and weighing approximately 160 pounds with black hair, brown eyes and a tattoo of a dagger on his right forearm. He was last seen wearing a white short-sleeved t-shirt, blue pants and dark-colored boots on the 7700 block of Cottage Street in Philadelphia.
Investigators also said Hagenkotter left a jumpsuit he had on while escaping and police dogs picked up the scent.
A $2,000 reward is being offered for information leading to Hagenkotter's arrest. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please call 911 or Philadelphia Police at 215-686-TIPS.
What we know about Gino Hagenkotter
According to court documents, Hagenkotter was in custody at the Bucks County Prison on retail theft charges in 2019 before serving time at the Riverside Correctional Facility on 8151 State Road in Northeast Philadelphia in April of 2023. Hagenkotter had violated his parole on several drug, retail theft and burglary charges, according to NBC10’s newsgathering partner KYW Newsradio.
"Hagenkotter is serving a sentence for charges related to theft and burglary and met the criteria to have an outside work assignment," a Philadelphia Department of Prisons spokesperson wrote. "Although this individual was in minimum custody, he should not be approached and anyone who sees him or is contacted by him should immediately call the police."
Commissioner Carney said Hagenkotter was supposed to be released on Thursday for a court-ordered program. However, that release was pushed to April 26, 2024, after officials discovered a retail theft incident in Bucks County he was involved in, according to Carney.
Carney said the delayed release date may have been the reason for Hagenkotter's escape.
"We do a secondary review before we process individuals from our custody to ensure that no other surrounding county or jurisdiction has any criminal holds for this individual. It was discovered that he had a matter in Bucks County that forfeited the bed date which he would’ve been released to a program today. And it was at that point he decided that he wanted to escape and he did," Carney said. “We believe that he was influenced by the fact he was aware that he was going to be released to a program. The Bucks County matter was retail theft. And we believe that that played a part in his decision to escape."
Issues at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC)
Two inmates also escaped from the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center (PICC) back in May. In early November, Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner detailed multiple safety issues at PICC, including staffing shortages, faulty cameras and motion sensor poles that were turned off.
While Commissioner Carney acknowledged that staffing remains an issue at the facility, she also said a lack of staffing didn't play a role in Hagenkotter's escape.
"You had an individual present. So we’re covering all of our posts where we have incarcerated individuals," Carney said. "Yes we are short-staffed. We are working to fill back up to attract people back to corrections. We’re in one of the most competitive labor markets, we’ve never seen before. But the staff who report to work are doing their due diligence. In this case, you gave a person an opportunity and he took it."
Hagenkotter's escape occurred the same day a prisoner at the nearby Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility was attacked and killed.
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